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Paris
Not to be confused with the Citadel of Silver Light. Probably. ---- : "Welcome, travelers, to Paris—gem of Europa, and loveliest of all the glories in this beautiful world!" for travelers waiting to enter Paris, which is presented as a marionette performance. The city of Paris in the Girl Genius universe is, at the start of our story at least, similar to the one in our world, renowned as an open haven of art, music, and learning. It has been, and continues to be, a (relative) respite from the chaos that troubles the rest of Europa, which has in turn led to a swelling of its population. Just as the Paris of our universe has a nickname, The City of Light, the Paris of the Girl Genius universe is nicknamed The City of Lightning.This is shown, or at least strongly implied, by the fact that the title of the second volume of The Second Journey of Agatha Heterodyne, in which Agatha arrives in Paris and much of which takes place in Paris, is The City of Lightning. The reason Paris has been given this name has not been revealed in the comic; it may be because Simon Voltaire is such a powerful Spark, or because Paris is inhabited by many Sparks. History Paris has never been part of the Wulfenbach Empire, likely because it hasn't required the imposition of order from the Baron. Instead, Paris falls under the demesne of the Master of Paris, Simon Voltaire, a particularly powerful and long-lived Spark whose ambitions are limited to keeping the city of Paris pleasant, beautiful, and safe. In fact, Gil's overprotective father considered Paris safe enough for his own son, allowing him to live there on his own while he attended a university. (Although no one knew he was the Baron's son at that point.) Gil has fond memories of Paris -- it's where he found inspiration for the music played by his Mechanical Orchestra. Gil reminisces about Paris It's also where he found the Heterodyne Device in a second-hand store, developed some sort of reputation with women "Yes, I'll never hear the end of that.", made an enemy out of Othar Tryggvassen (but how hard is that?) "You know -- I really hate you." had further unhelpful encounters with Tarvek, and met Ardsley Wooster. Large sections of the city are underground, and some of these areas, such as the The Incorruptible Republic of the Immortal Library of the Grand Architect, are not under the Master's political control. A majority of the Paris population as so far depicted has been dark-skinned, including the Master himself. The cause of this is yet to be revealed. It may be that the majority of Parisians are descended from the very long-lived Master, directly or not. A Father Of His Country, taken more literally. Or Liberty, Equality and very definitely ''' Fraternity, taken '''very literally. And the Foglios are pretty darn literal. In the Comic As Agatha and her friends arrive in Paris following the Timeskip, a craze for the very unauthorized use of her name and likeness has swept the city's commercial districts, while the Paris Opera is staging a production which theoretically details her and Gil's adventures. Her visit also coincides with a plot by Madame Velix, a cadre of her fellow Geisterdamen and Drusus Beausoleil, all working for The Queen of the Dawn, to smuggle in miniature Hive Engines and wasp the entire city's population, along with killing the Master and subverting control of the city's systems. In the end, with the help of Agatha, Tarvek, and Tweedle, this plot is foiled, at the cost of the Master's death, and his daughter and successor Colette ordering the city sealed as long as the threat of the Other looms over Europa. Internal peacekeeping The Master of Paris has an elite (and very mannerly ) police force keeping Paris' peace - they are called Serpents and one is, in fact, depicted on their badges . They have the enforcement power to shoot to kill, only answering to their Master for their actions. Othar calls them "Dangerous people". Other security forces the Master has been to deploy include the Gens D'Armes , Monsieur Machines and Dadaist Doomknights. Civic services The Parisian Fire Department uses " " which attach to hydrants for firefighting. Whether "dragon handler" is the colloquial name of the firefighters is unclear. The equipment name and design suggests the Master may have a reptile theme going on in his civic divisions. See also Notable locations associated with Paris include: * Awful Tower * Island of the Monkey Girls * * Notre Dame de Paris (cathedral) * Paris Institute of the Extraordinary * Place Maubert * Blind Eos Gate * Thirteenth Stack Level * Black Market For people living in or near (mostly under) Paris, see Characters from Paris and vicinity. Category:Cities and Towns